Published in:
01-09-2019 | Hydrocephalus | Original Article
The ventriculo-cholecystic shunt: does CSF volume matter?
Published in: Child's Nervous System | Issue 9/2019
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Introduction
The management of hydrocephalus in paediatric patients where the peritoneum has failed can be challenging. One option is to perform a ventriculo-cholecystic shunt. However, little is known about the capacity of the gall bladder to accommodate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Methods
A retrospective case series was performed to include all paediatric patients who received a ventriculo-cholecystic shunt at a single centre, Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Results
We identified three patients who had a ventriculo-cholecystic shunt inserted. The shunt survived past 1 year in two patients, who had pre-operative external ventricular drain (EVD) outputs of 8 and 10 ml/h respectively. One patient shunt failed at day four post-op due to distal dysfunction, his pre-operative EVD was over 30 ml/h.
Conclusions
When considering a patient for a ventriculo-cholecystic shunt, caution should be taken if a high CSF output is known, for example, as per an EVD measurement.